The PRovoke Media Podcast

‘Back To Office‘ Plans Impact Diversity Initiatives

The research is clear: flexibility now ranks second only to compensation on what employees care about — and it hits even harder with diverse employees. According to Future Forum data: 80% of Black, 78% of Hispanic, and 77% of Asian respondents want a flexible working experience, either through a hybrid or remote-only model. This compared to 74% of white employees. This race breakdown paints a stark picture for an industry that’s both focused on bringing employees back to the office while also pledging to increase diversity at all levels. 
To explore what this means for the PR industry, PRovoke Media executive editor Aarti Shah spoke with Helen Kupp, head of product strategy & partnerships at Future Forum, and Naria Frazer, VP and head DEI at Praytell. 

03:00 The Future Forum survey
05:37  What it’s like to be a racial minority at a PR agency
08:14  Re-skilling managers around inclusion, especially in remote environments
09:13  Subtle ways in-office networking can be exclusionary
11:22  Normalizing flexibility & not making remote workers ‘second class’ employees
16:38  How Praytell manages remote talent and its 4-day work week
19:58  It’s not just about remote work — it’s also asynchronous work
24:41  The “office is necessary for culture” trope is a myth
32:52   Advice for the industry

Healthy Bites: Data-Driven Communications With Emily Poe

We've partnered with Real Chemistry— formerly W2O — on a new series Healthy Bites. In each episode, we will have a quick chat with a healthcare expert to provide a digestible "what you should know" to help the industry stay ahead of the rapidly changing healthcare public relations and communications landscape. We are launching the series with Emily Poe, group president of integrated communications at Real Chemistry, who talks to PRovoke Media executive editor Aarti Shah about data-driven communications. 

Topics covered:
02:01 Defining data-driven communicator 
02:59 The balance between instincts and data 
03:53 Most exciting data-driven advancements 
06:39 When does data have the most impact?

Asian PR‘s creative evolution, with Ogilvy‘s Emily Poon

Ahead of PRovoke Media's Asia-Pacific Summit, Ogilvy PR Asia president Emily Poon joins the podcast to explore how creativity is evolving the region. Poon, who also judged this year's Cannes Lions, finds that new platforms and sources of influence are reshaping what PR storytelling means in Asia. 

A Conversation With P&G On The Role And Risks Of Creativity

Relationships are tricky, and those between brands and consumers are no exception. In this conversation, Diana Marszalek speaks with P&G Ventures communications head Lauren Thaman and imre executive creative director Patrick “Sully” Sullivan about the complexities of striking the right tone in consumer communications, particularly at a time when people want greater corporate purpose but also are seeking a break from it all.

Topics covered: 
00:55 What is brand belief? 
02:20 The brand belief discovery process 
05:29 Balancing brand purpose with brand levity 
09:43 Defining the creative process 
14:01 Working with entrepreneurs on the creative process
16:56 Creativity across disciplines 
19:48 How 'being cancelled' can be a win
22:38 How do you measure creativity 

‘Relaunch Hong Kong‘ rumbles on

Maja Pawinska Sims joins Arun Sudhaman on the PRovoke podcast to discuss the latest developments in Hong Kong's interminable PR saga, following the news that the Relaunch Hong Kong campaign will be delayed, and is being criticised by lawmakers as a waste of public money. 

5 Reasons PR Should Be Involved In Lead Generation

Over many years of judging PR campaign awards, the metric that seems to resonate most strongly with judges is: did this campaign impact the business positively? And one of the most powerful ways to demonstrate this is via lead generation. We recently had a conversation with Susan O’Brien, VP of marketing and communications at Cisco's ThousandEyes and Nikki Festa O’Brien, SVP at PAN Communications, to explore why the time has come for PR to solidify its role within lead generation.

We talk about these five reasons:

2:41 How 2020 changed the lead-generation game
6:40 The interplay of content and SEO 
9:30 The channel-neutral world makes lead generation more accessible 
13:38 Customer stories, of course, drive sales
17:30 Lead generation is the ideal outcome of integrated communications 

A Conversation With CeraVe On Influencers, Transparency & Purpose

Even before the pandemic, skincare was booming — and rather than taking a hit when the world moved online, its demand accelerated as people sought to look their best on camera. In this conversation, Aarti Shah speaks to Caitlin King, assistant vice president at CeraVe and Lisa Wolleon, EVP at Coyne PR, about the intersection of self-care and skincare and the complexities of communicating self-care, a topic that is both inherently universal and personal. 

Topics: 
01:30 What is driving the skincare boom?
03:33 The role influencers play in reaching consumers 
06:56 Identifying the right influencer for campaigns
08:17 What beauty consumers want when they ask for 'transparency'? 
10:34 How CeraVe approaches purpose 
14:43 The future of the self-care movement 

Why It's Time For All PR Firms To Embrace Remote Work

In this episode of the PRovoke Media podcast, Aarti Shah talks Beth Haiken, EVP at Method Communications, about the firm's journey from being an office-first culture to one that prioritizes finding and keeping great talent, no matter where they are based. Haiken talks about how this change shifted the agency's focus from the number of hours to the quality of the work — and brought a more intentional focus on culture, creativity and collaboration.

The challenges of higher education communications

After working for the likes of Activision and Amazon, UCLA’s Mary Osako became her alma mater’s first vice chancellor of communications in September 2019, with the goal of maximizing the impact of the university’s new strategic communications division. In this podcast, Osako talks to PRovoke Media’s Diana Marszalek about how she forged ahead with her goals while unexpectedly also managing Covid communications targeting nearly 50,000 students.

The evolution of public health communications

Maryellen Royle is partner and global head of operations of Evoke Kyne, PRovoke Media’s 2021 healthcare PR agency of the year. In this podcast, she talks to Diana Marszalek about what it takes to create content that matters amid a plethora of information, and how effective communications can positively impact public health.